Implementation of the CDM 2015 Principal Designer role – Technical Annex

Detailed analyses of the data obtained from the survey and stakeholder interviews undertaken for the CDM 2015 Principal Designer research

MPW R&R Ltd (in partnership with Catchfly Ltd and RJ Roels Ltd) undertook a two-month rapid review of the CDM 2015 Principal Designer (PD) role for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) during February and March 2021.

HSE published a summary of the findings of that review as a standalone Research Report.  Research Report RR1198 is available for free download on HSE’s web site.

However, the current HSE Research Report format was not conceived as a medium to present the level of raw information gathered during the rapid review and the extensive analysis this required.  MPW R&R Ltd has, therefore, provided this to HSE through a Technical Annex so that the evidence base is preserved and available for future use.

The Technical Annex contains detailed analyses of the data obtained from the large-scale survey and stakeholder interviews carried out for the review.   These analyses were used by the authors to develop the summary findings reported in Research Report RR1198.

The Technical Annex can be downloaded by clicking on the file name: MPW R&R - HSE CDM 2015 Principal Designer Research - Technical Annex (587 downloads )

About the author:

Dr Mike Webster is a chartered civil and structural engineer (FICE, FIStructE) with over 30 years’ experience.  He specialises in construction and structural safety, CDM and risk, and founded MPW R&R to provide Consulting, Forensic and Expert Witness services in those areas.

Mike has worked on the design, appraisal and site supervision of building and bridge structures.  He has developed guidance for assessing the safety of existing structures.  Mike led an independent review of CDM 1994, the independent evaluation of CDM 2007 and the research into the CDM 2015 Principal Designer role.  He also led the review of the use of CDM 2007 in the construction of London 2012.

Mike has been instructed as an expert witness by both defence and prosecution teams in cases involving allegations of corporate manslaughter, gross negligence manslaughter, breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act, the CDM Regulations, the Work at Height Regulations and the appeal of enforcement notices.

Mike is the author of around 20 published reports and papers on construction health and safety and the CDM Regulations.  He is also the author of a range of articles on CDM 2015.   He is a member of Confidential Reporting on Structural-Safety (CROSS), the Institution of Structural Engineers Health and Safety Panel and the Temporary Works forum.

For more information email Mike at mike.webster@mpwrandr.co.uk or give him a call on 07969 957471.